Soggy Lions slog to 17-3 win over Eskimos

Mike Beamish, Vancouver Sun07.14.2013

B.C. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay flips the ball to Andrew Harris while playing against the Edmonton Eskimos during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013.JASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

B.C. Lions players make their way to the field in heavy rain to take on the Edmonton Eskimos during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013.JASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

B.C. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay looks for the pass as he is chased by Edmonton Eskimos’ Ted Laurent during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013.JASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

B.C. Lions’ Korey Banks and Joe Burnett miss the tackle on Edmonton Eskimos’ Hugh Charles during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013.JASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly makes the pass agains the B.C. Lions during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013.JASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

B.C. Lions' Korey Williams (8) run out of bounds as he is chased by the Edmonton Eskimos Calvin McCarty (3), Mike Cornell (49) and Eric Samuels (38) during first half action in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday July 13, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason FransonJASON FRANSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON - Purists say that football was always meant to be played outside. Of course, they’re the same people who think the last great running back was Red Grange.

The argument for indoor football got a big boost Saturday night at Commonwealth Stadium, when the B.C. Lions slogged to a 17-3 victory over the Edmonton Eskimos under water-logged conditions that made the first half of the Canadian Football League game close to a farce.

Dark threatening clouds moved into the Edmonton area early in the evening, and the heavens opened up 15 minutes before kickoff and never relented for the first half of the game.

But as the torrential rains began to subside, Lions quarterback Travis Lulay started to warm up. After directing an offence that could produce only a single point in the first half, Lulay broke it open in the third quarter as rainbows began to appear. “The first half was just pouring,” Lulay said in classic understatement. “I can’t believe their (Eskimos) luck. Two weeks in a row.” (The Eskimos defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 30-20 last Sunday, in similar conditions in Guelph, Ont.).

“Honestly, what got us going was I was able to manufacture a few plays with my feet,” Lulay added. “That was important. When he got into some passing situations in the first half, we couldn’t do anything. Those guys have a good front. They were bringing five guys, twisting and stunting. If I saw an opening there, I had to use my feet. Trying to make tight throws, with a wet football, wasn’t easy.”

He directed the Lions to successive touchdowns on B.C.‘s first two possessions of the second half, and the Eskimos, who held a 3-1 lead at the half, were unable to respond. Lulay picked up 17 yards of an 80-yard drive on quarterback scrambles before he finished it off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Arceneaux.

The Lions quarterback, the game’s leading rusher with 82 yards on nine carries, extended a second touchdown drive with runs of eight and nine yards on B.C.’s next possession. It ended on a pass to Andrew Harris, who broke through a double-team by Joe Burnett and T.J. Hill to complete a 16-yard touchdown play and put the Lions ahead 15-3.

Harris had another strong game. After picking up 152 combined yards July 4 against the Toronto Argonauts, he totaled an even 100 yards against the Eskimos, 70 of those on 17 hard-earned rushes.

“Later in the fourth quarter, the ball got a little drier,” Harris said. “But, for most of the game, it wasn’t dry at all. It’s tough sledding when it’s like that. Thank God for that dome we have.”

Edmonton punter Grant Shaw conceded a safety in the fourth quarter to complete B.C.‘s scoring. And that was it -- enough to move the Lions to 2-1 while the Eskimos dropped to 1-2 in the CFL’s West Division.

The Eskimos only scoring play was a 32-yard field goal from Shaw, in the first quarter, after a third-and-one gamble by the Lions was thwarted by linebacker J.C. Sherritt, who dove over the pile to stop Lions quarterback Thomas DeMarco on a sneak.

The Esks ran off nine plays but managed to advance the ball just 27 yards before Shaw gave Edmonton its only lead of the game.

In the first half, conditions were close to unplayable, evidenced by the difficulty both teams experienced in gripping the greasy football. Shaw lined up for a 42-yard field goal attempt, only to have the snap squirt through the hands of holder Kerry Joseph for a turnover. The snap was perfect, but Joseph had it squeeze through his fingers like a slippery bar of soap.

The Lions’ only scoring opportunity of the first half came in the final minute, when Lulay moved the ball to the Edmonton 18-yard line. After the Lions quarterback was sacked and the drive stalled, Hugh O’Neill lined up for a 30-yard field goal attempt. But the snap to DeMarco, the holder, was mishandled. The Lions’ punter made a heads-up play to punt the ball into the Edmonton end zone for a single to avert the first-half shutout.

As Harris noted, weather shouldn’t be a factor next Saturday in the rematch between the Lions and Esks at BC Place Stadium -- unless, of course, the retractable roof mechanism malfunctions.

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Soggy Lions slog to 17-3 win over Eskimos

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